Posts Tagged ‘gifts ideas’

What a stunningly beautiful February day. The sun is shining like crazy and there is snow piled high on tree branches and fence rails. The birds even look happy. They flit about with joy and a spring in their step.

Just 2 more days until Valentines day and the anticipated arrival of our newest little family member. We are just so excited.

I’ve spent the last few weeks on custom work for a few of my customers.

Becky was looking for a luxury baby gift with a difference. We decided on a hand spun Angora and silk handknit baby shrug and matching hat. I call it Whisper. I searched through some of my vintage pattern books and online at vintage knitting site. Inspired by some of the vintage looks and a piece that I did a few years ago I came up with Whisper. The yarn is an amazing mixture of Angora fiber and Silk. They are so different in texture and appearance but come together to make a truly one-of-a-kind yarn with the best of both worlds. The fabric is fluffy and soft with a gorgeous halo but also has the added strength and unmistakable shine of the silk, not to mention the crispy feel that crunches like footsteps on very cold snow. It is tied at the neckline with a delicate pure silk ribbon. The hat is loosely based on a beret style hat from an old SRK pattern that I have loved over the years. It is the sweetest little cardigan and hat set in Marble. I looked for the pattern for days and days and I just couldn’t find it anywhere. Finally a wonderful friend on Ravelry sent me a scanned copy of it and saved the day. I promise we didn’t infringe on any copyrights as I really do own this one, just can’t seem to remember where I put it. The lace edging and the rose are hand crocheted from some very fine 100% handspun silk.

I knit a pair of casual socks for Carolyn. They were to have a casual look and go with her jeans. I am thrilled to report that she was very happy with the resulting socks.

Richard wanted the Turn a Square hat by Jared Flood (one of my own personal favorite designers). This project was a treat to knit and I was finished the first one in just a few days so we decided to knit another one with the colours reversed and it turns out that 2 of these hats can be knit with 2 x 50 gram balls but don’t do any extra rows as I only had about 1 yard left over.

Jamie asked me to spin some camel and silk yarn for her to knit a jacket for her brand new grandson in size 2. Congratulations Jamie and family!

I finally finished the Nube Garter Stitch socks and the Alpacalicious slippers with the leather soles and they have already been gifted.

I am working really hard to get some of my special hand knits listed here on the web site and in the Etsy store.

Today I got 2 more really special Angora garments listed that would be perfect for baby gifts. One for a baby boy and one for a baby girl.

These are both one of a kind garments. There is no pattern available yet and I have not knit them again in any other form. Each was designed specifically for that particular special garment.
They are both luxury items which would be perfect heirloom gift.

One of a kind Angora rabbit baby sweater handknit in the softest and finest handspun and hand dyed angora yarn. This is definitely next to the skin soft!
An original design that I created just for this cardigan so it is truely a One of a Kind (OAK) garment.
The front band features 5 handmade buttons. A very special little sweater that would make a wonderful heirloom quality gift.

SIZE:
The sweater will fit a baby or toddler of approximately 6-12 months.
It measures 21 inches around and 11 inches in length.
weighs 144 grams or 5.1 ounces

This one is knit with Austerman “Peru” Alpaca yarn (now discontinued, I’m afraid). It’s a lovely soft “sport” weight Alpaca.
This shows that although a fingering or sock yarn is recommended a sport weight yarn will work just as well.
I used the same needle size (2.5 mm) and the same # of stitches. This one is for Aidan. Hope you like it kiddo?
Earl (DH) is jealous. He thought it was for him so I’ll get to work on another one. Since I can’t make the same hat twice I’ll make his out of black (it must be black) sock yarn. I’ll keep you posted but I can’t start it until I finish

Alice’s “Hello Kitty” hat, pattern by Beadwhore Knitting, THANKS
The 2nd of the 2 Cosy Cashmere Cowls (almost done)
The orders for Handspun yarns –Buy ’em here – that are starting to come in as fast as I can fill them. A good thing for sure 🙂
hats for Atherton and Gilbert. I’ve decided to try out the Aviatrix by Justine Turner.
The above mentioned not being UFO’s, of course, but works in progress!

I had recently signed up for a class on Craftsy Spinning Dyed Fibers on how to spin these wonderful tops and so, of course, I had to buy some. I got these 2 amazing colourways and a bar of homemade goat milk soap.

I got on the iPad and watched the class and practiced. It was my first time to try Navajo plying and I can’t believe how easy it is after I’ve been avoiding it for all these years!

I only have 4 ounces of each colourway so I started with a pair of mitts. I found the pattern on Ravelry, Cruiser by Cailyn Meyer. When the mitts were finished I still had quite a bit left but not enough for a hat so I made this headband to match the mitts (just made up the pattern as I went).

This set is for Libby and I gave it to her today. I really think she likes it a lot.

All thought of building a web site and products for sale are slipping into the background as I contemplate what I’m going to knit for my family for Christmas.

The socks are always a big hit and I will certainly be doing them this year but what else. Everyone has a couple of scarves, mitts or gloves and the kids all have hats scarves and mitts but I’m sure anyone could use more. I will perhaps do the big cowl for the ladies. I saw a couple on Ravelry. This is the free Burberry Inspired Cowl that I thought would be nice in Cashmere or in Merino and Silk bulky.

I also thought about bags. Felted bags but I don’t think I have time to make them now. Why do I always wait until October to do this?

I did spin some Merino and Nylon from Knit Picks last week. I put it into a glass dish and sprinkled 2 colours of gaywool dye on to the soaked skeins. I covered with a glass lid and baked at 325 – 350 for about 1 hour. the water was pretty clear and I didn’t get much bleeding into the rinse at all. the effect was pretty and I will definitely try this again and refine. I knit them into a pair of men’s socks but it took 150 grams instead of the usual 100 that I need of the commercially spun yarns. I think my yarns must be more compact.